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Mombi
Mombi is a wicked old witch who lives in the Gillikin Country of the Land of Oz. She had once conquered and ruled the Gillikin Country as the Wicked Witch of the North, only to be deposed by the Good Witch of the North. She enchanted Ozma and remained her guardian after being deposed, in order to prevent her from ascending to the throne. Transformations were Mombi's forte. Character and History Mombi herself enslaved King Pastoria, the last King to rule Oz, prior to the Wizard's arrival. (Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz) She met her first match in the Good Witch of the North. After freeing the Gillikins from Mombi's clutches, the Good Witch forbade any other witch to live in her domain. Even when defeated, Mombi was apparently still a survivor, and she made herself appear to be no more than a lowly wizardess, under the Good Witch of the North's reign. She lived on a farmland which included corn fields, a four-horned cow, and some pigs. (The Marvelous Land of Oz) After arriving in Oz, the Wizard of Oz made three visits to Mombi, and handed King Pastoria's baby daughter, Princess Ozma, over to the old witch. Mombi kept the infant heir to the throne sucessfully hidden away, transforming her into a boy named Tip. Having been the jailor of Ozma's father and grandfather before, Mombi treated Tip as a slave too, as "he" grew up. One day Mombi visited a Crooked Wizard and purchased the Powder of Life from him, which she used to bring Jack Pumpkinhead to life. Tip had created Jack in order to scare her, so as punishment Mombi began brewing a potion that would turn the boy into a marble statue. That night, Tip ran away, taking Jack with him. When General Jinjur's Army of Revolt conquered the Emerald City, Jinjur feared that the deposed Scarecrow would return with the Tin Woodman to take back the throne of the kingdom. She asked Mombi for help and the old witch agreed, planning to recapture Tip, who had joined the deposed king of Oz. After leaving the Gillikin Country to join forces with General Jinjur (the self-appointed new Queen of Oz), Mombi was no longer under the jurisdiction of the Good Witch of the North, but the unscrupulous old witch was forced to reckon with Glinda (who wanted to restore Princess Ozma to the throne). The wicked old witch tried to trick and escape Glinda with a series of transformations ranging from the maid Jellia Jamb, to a rose, and ultimately a Griffin, but the Good Sorceress was too clever, slick and resourceful. Glinda turned out to be an even tougher adversary than the Good Witch of the North, and ensured that Mombi could never harm anyone again. Just before being disenchanted, Tip promised to provide for Mombi in her old age, despite the witch's fiendish actions. After forcing her to disenchant Princess Ozma, Glinda made Mombi drink a powerful draught that stripped the old witch of all her magic powers. (The Marvelous Land of Oz) Book Appearances * The Marvelous Land of Oz (first appearance) * The Lost King of Oz Background Other depictions In Ruth Plumly Thompson's The Lost King of Oz, Dorothy suggests that Mombi be put out with a pail of water for her misdeeds, and Princess Ozma herself commands it. L. Frank Baum never suggested that water could destroy all witches, but Thompson certainly surmised as much. Moreover, Baum's original Dorothy and Ozma would never have had anyone executed; Dorothy was unwilling to kill the Wicked Witch of the West even for the sake of seeing Aunt Em and Uncle Henry in Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while Ozma was unwilling to destroy her enemies even when they were on the verge of conquering her entire land in Baum's The Emerald City of Oz. Above all, the events in Thompson's book directly contradict Baum's specification that Mombi would be provided for by Ozma herself in her old age. The later Oz writer March Laumer reversed her death, regenerating and reforming the witch into a harmless character in the non-canonical A Farewell to Oz. Movies In the movie Return to Oz, the character of Mombi was combined with head-exchanging Princess Langwidere from the third book in the series, Ozma of Oz. She is portrayed by Jean Marsh, the same actress who plays Nurse Wilson in the mental hospital where Dorothy is committed at the beginning of the movie. Just as in the original books, Mombi loses her magic powers in the end. In the 1986 anime adaption Oz no Mahōtsukai, Mombi is one of the principal villains. Her portrayal is almost entirely in keeping with L. Frank Baum's original depiction, although there is no mention of her having been the Wicked Witch of the North (and being routed by the Good Witch of the North). Instead, the series expounds on a friendship between Mombi and the Wicked Witch of the West. In the animated movie Journey Back to Oz, Mombi is the cousin of the Wicked Witches of the East and West. She takes over the Emerald City with an army of green elephants, conjurred out of her magic cauldron. She was voiced by Ethel Merman, and sang 2 solos titled "An Elephant Never Forgets" and "If You're Gonna Be a Witch (Be a Witch!)" in Merman's trademark brash style. In the 2013 film The Land of Oz, Mombi is depicted as being much more evil than her book counterpart. She took over the entire Gillikin Country and enslaved all of its inhabitants, forcing them to farm plants and herbs for her potions. She even forced the Gillikins, as well as her own two vulture minions, to call her "Queen Mombi" and Tip to call her "mother". Unlike the other Gillikins, Mombi does not have purple hair or eyes, revealing that she is a foreigner who simply decided to take over the Gillikins because she wanted to and she could. When Mombi was given baby Ozma, the Wizard also gave her King Pastoria's staff and a pair of Silver Shoes as payment (both of which she uses to enslave the Gillikins). In the end, Tip is tricked into swallowing one of Mombi's Wishing Pills causing him to fall into a death-like state, and Glinda crushes the last pill, stripping Mombi of her power and revealing Princess Ozma and reuniting her with her father so that the two may rightfully rule Oz. Adaptations Mombi and Tip also make a cameo appearance in Gregory Maguire's second Oz novel, Son of a Witch. References Category:Oz Book Characters Category:Oz Movie Characters Category:Witches Category:Antagonists Category:Villains Category:Gillikin Country